


Premature Burial

by catsmiaow



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Brothers, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 05:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17380850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsmiaow/pseuds/catsmiaow
Summary: Dean and Sam were always together.





	1. Chapter 1

Dean Winchester felt his heart drop when Sam's head snapped back, the monster's claws buried in his brother's hair. The rest of the world faded out, dwindling down to that one point - that space just above the monster's left eye that kept peeping around Sam's head at him. A single bullet put right there would drop the thing.

The snarls and insults of the thing were ignored. The same was true for the look in Sam's eyes. Dean hated that look. It said that Sam wondered if this might be the last time. It was the acceptance there that bothered him. It was the occasional flash of hope buried in his brother's steady gaze on him. That maybe this would be the last time and there could be an end to it all.

Everything stopped existing except for that tiny patch of rotting skin above the creature's left eye. The room faded. Sam was no longer there. Even Dean's heart slowed. A breath in and then out. The trigger was pulled and the sharp reek of burnt cordite warred with the rotten stink in the room. His ears hurt from the thunderclap of the gun's report, but Dean didn't notice that anymore than he did anything else except the sudden jet of ichor and what he supposed was brain matter from the newly made hole in the thing's head just above its left eye. An eighth of an inch off than he would have liked, but it worked just the same.

The part of him that wanted to rush over to Sam, hug him tight and reassure himself that his brother was still alive was beaten fiercely back. Instead, Dean glared at the sights on his favorite gun as if it had personally offended him. "I told you it was pulling to the left, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Sam grumbled, wiping monster-mess off his cheek and shoulder. He and Dean both ignored that they were nearly shouting at each other to be heard over the ringing in their ears. "And I just bought this shirt."

"Thought you'd be whining more about your perfect hair being mussed. Got enough Herbal Essences to take care of that?"

_Bitch._  
Jerk.  
You scared me.  
Love you too. 

Sam rolled his eyes. "Well, that's taken care of."

"Still time to hit that bar before they close," Dean said with a grin, holstering his gun and ignoring the cooling corpse on the floor. "Get some dinner, have a few beers, hustle some pool...?"

"You just want to see that waitress' red panties she told you about."

Dean laughed as they headed out into the night. A thousand stars lit the sky over them, and the Impala's engine started with a low roar that went to a purr when Dean put her in gear. "Live a little, Sammy! Maybe she has a friend."

He glanced over at his brother with a cajoling grin.


	2. Chapter 2

"Who is he?" the candy striper asked. She'd only been there a week and was still learning all the patient's names.

"Dean Winchester. He's one of our long term residents."

"He looks young to be here. What happened to him?"

The charge nurse sighed, setting down her clipboard as she looked over the man in the corner. Dean Winchester's hair had gone white long ago. The burn scars hadn't been kind as the boy had aged to a man and left what should have been a handsome face pulling to one side. His hands laid in his lap, the same burn scars twisting across them in ugly patterns. His lips moved soundlessly, shaping words no one would ever hear. "He's been like this since he was a kid. Fire killed his parents. He was trying to get out with his baby brother as the fire spread. Ended up burning him pretty badly too. When the firefighter grabbed hold of him, he dropped his brother without meaning. Accident but bad all the same. The arson investigator said the baby was probably long dead by then from smoke inhalation or, well, you know. He was the only survivor."

"Does he-?" the young girl began.

The pity in her eyes wouldn't help Winchester. The nurse knew that. Hell, everyone did. Even that Bobby Singer that came once a month to try and talk to Dean had accepted that long ago. "No. They've tried for years. Nothing. Whatever world he's in is far from this one."

 

_"C'mon, Sammy! Just a beer and a burger! I'm sure they have one of those rabbit food feasts you love."_

_"Probably wilted lettuce they couldn't sneak into those cheeseburgers. Fine! One beer, Dean. I'm not spending the rest of the night watching you use bad pickup lines on willing women."_

 

"Very far away from this one," the nurse repeated, picking back up her clipboard. "Come on. It's time for Mr Murdow's feeding and then turn Miss Pendergrass before she gets bed sores."

 

\----------------

_No one can tell what goes on between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of Hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side._

 _  
_

_Or you don't._

\--Stephen King 

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I know. I'm working on Thantophobia again.


End file.
